Bits from Barb

General Reminders about Summer Reading Programs
Please review the CSLP Rules of Use regarding the 2008 SLP artwork. In particular, I want to remind everyone that if you use the artwork on a web page you need to include this statement:

"This artwork is copyrighted, contact CSLP for information. www.cslpreads.org"

Also, please remember that partnering agencies should not use the artwork on their web pages, but can use them on print items. If you have a special situation, please let me know. I would very much appreciate systems that help create summer reading program web pages for their libraries to automatically include the copyright statement.

As a safety precaution and to protect the privacy of library records, children's reading records should be located in an area or accessed in a way that does not allow members of the public from knowing the children's last name. Contest forms that include children's addresses and/or phone numbers should be put in a container in which they can't be read by passer-bys. If children's faces are used on library web pages or if contest winners names are released to the local newspaper, a parental permission slip is strongly encouraged. Many libraries that routinely take pictures during library events, include a parental permission slip to allow the library to photograph their child as part of their registration process. This is not a legal requirement, but extra precaution is encouraged whenever minors are involved.

I had a question recently regarding the line on the state park passes for the child's name. The library can write in the child's name because it will be the parents who release that form to the state parks. The library is not directly identifying young readers for the DNR. As long as a parent is involved in the process there should not be a problem.
Best wishes to all public libraries as you begin your summer reading programs.

Google Gadget Spider
A CSLP member shared this delightfully creepy crawling spider from Google. It's available here. Melissa Widner, Indiana, included a link to her web page to show how she used it. She installed the spider on her children's summer reading page so kids can watch him walk around. To see her page go to: www.jasperco.lib.in.us/events/sumread/kids_sr/index.htm
--from Melissa Widner, Webmaster, Jasper County Public Library, 208 W. Susan St., Rensselaer, Ind. 47978; mwidner@jasperco.lib.in.us; Phone (219) 866-5881

(One caution I want to give librarians is that this type of moving character may interfere with the browsers that people who are blind use to look at library web pages. So this spider they may make page non-accessible. I thought creative librarians might find other uses for it. Even if you don't want to use it, take a minute to see it walk around.

Optical Illusion Monarch Butterfly Activity
Linda Colby, Mt. Horeb Public Library, suggested an activity for upper elementary/teen participants. It involves coloring patterns of a Monarch butterfly and caterpillar, then cutting them into strips and gluing them in a way that makes it possible to flash back and forth from caterpillar to butterfly. Click here to see the project and get directions.
--Idea submitted by Linda Colby, Mt. Horeb Public Library

Three Wisconsin Students Among Top Braille Users in the U.S.
Three Wisconsin students are among the top Braille users in the United States and Canada, wining a competition held at the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Janesville, as a part of the International Braille Challenge. The winners, Baylee Alger of Green Bay, Zachary Morris of Kenosha, and Amelia King of Madison, competed in reading comprehension, proofreading, spelling, dictation, and charts and graphs events as part of the challenge.

The news release, available on the Department of Public Instruction news release website, includes additional information. Please direct comments or questions about this news item to Patrick Gasper, (608) 266-3559, or patrick.gasper@dpi.wi.gov.

SYSTEM YOUTH LIAISON POSTING
Barbara Huntington, DLTCL
May 2008